I’m Ashley (McMillan) Weightman. I grew up in the small town of Wimbledon, North Dakota. In 2005 I moved to Bismarck to go to school where I graduated from the University of Mary with a Bachelors Degree in Communications and Business. I
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I’m Ashley (McMillan) Weightman. I grew up in the small town of Wimbledon, North Dakota. In 2005 I moved to Bismarck to go to school where I graduated from the University of Mary with a Bachelors Degree in Communications and Business. I began working at the CBS affiliate as a reporter while in college and spent three years there. From CBS, I moved to Devils Lake to work at WDAZ-TV for a year, before continuing to work at WDAZ in Grand Forks. I married the love of my life Travis on June 23, 2012 and we now live in Bismarck with our three year old son, Corbin. Travis works at KXMB-TV and I at KLJ Engineering and attend Rasmussen College where I’m pursing a Bachelors Degree in Human Resources Management and Organizational Leadership.

Weight has been a struggle for me since I can remember. I do well for a while and then fall off the wagon. Four years ago I lost nearly 50lbs and was doing great. Two months after maintaining my weight, I found out that I was pregnant and gained 70lbs in nine months. I figured after I had Corbin, some of the pounds would fall off. Corbin weight 8lbs 12oz and I only lost 3lbs. Ever since December of 2009, I’ve been doing fad diets for about a month, trying the gym on and off, and eat healthy and nothing seems to be working. I’ve recently had some health issues and my doctor told me that in order to have more children and be a part of my children’s life, I need to lose weight, but most importantly, I need to do it for me.

I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. I'm constantly up and down and don't think that it's possible to ever be "skinny." There are times I want to give up. Times that grabbing that cheeseburger or not going to the gym seem so easy. Even at times when I've had the best workout ever, I just wonder when it's going to start paying off.
A lot of times encouragement from others goes along way. When you're down, simple words can make it easy to keep going.
I don't like salad. I don't like vegetables. The last two days I've ate at least one salad a day. I cringed as I took every bite. I figured it wouldn't make me full so I had several other options to eat with me. I posted pictures to Facebook just to prove to people that I was actually doing it. I was so angry about not being able to grab a piece of pizza or HAVING to go to the gym that I wanted to have a huge breakdown. All of that on top of a screaming three year old, work, and TONS of homework, made me feel that my life was falling apart.
I was about ready to go to bed when I got a message from my mom. It said, "I'm very proud of you and all the working out you are doing. I keep thinking it would be nice if I was there to go with you, too. You don't always have to eat salad either, or change up the dressing sometimes or add a cracker to make some crunch with it. Love you."
This made my day. My mom has been my biggest cheerleader, whether I lose 3lbs a week or gain 2. It's her words of encouragement that had me eating a salad today and being pumped about going to the gym tomorrow.
It doesn't matter if a person is struggling or not. Give some words of encouragement to anyone.